Versatile
by lemsterette
Summary: She's tolerant of insanity. A KJ set in our time period. Chapter 13 up.
1. Versatile

Versatile

It was funny, thought Joren idly as he watched his wife, that she could be so versatile. One day she was busting criminals and beating up muscular criminal weightlifters, and then at exactly 3 o' clock PM, there she was at the bus stop, picking up her kids. One day she was sipping tea in bed like an old woman and the next she was on the computer listening to her children's music, checking her email while her hair dried.

Today was one of the check-my-email days for Kel. Though she didn't send them herself, she often got messages from her friends. There was the weekly one from her superiors about her paycheck and blah blah blah that she pretended to read, and then as she rolled her eyes and Flyndon's unending condescending stiffness, Destiny's Child played in the backround.

He remembered the day before, the story he'd heard from Neal. Kel had been on a bank robbery case, doing well. She'd pinned the criminal against the wall, and heaving, realized that it was 2: 49 PM. She wouldn't be able to pick up her kids. With a grunt of effort, she managed to keep the man of six feet—two inches taller than she was---against the wall as she called Lalasa, asking her to pick up the kids.

It was the kind of thing that only a mother could do.

Joren, himself, would've ignored the fact that the children would have to walk home and daunted the captive out of sheer boredom. That, or just punched him.

Suddenly she looked up at her husband, hazel eyes amused. "Do you realize that it is extremely unprofessional for me to call someone out of the police force while working? I know this may be surprising, but Flyndon actually thinks that he may be able to let it slide this one time, seeing as I still got my man."

Joren snorted, placed his hands on her shoulders, and kissed her mousy brown hair. "This is why I don't work for Flyn," he teased.

Kel leaned back in her chair. "Like you had any more of a choice than I did."

He smiled mysteriously. "Maybe I had more than you think."

Grabbing an elastic from next to the computer, Keladry put her hair into a messy bun, flipping it to the side so that she whacked her husband in the face as she smiled at the baby of the family wobbling towards her. "Hello, sweetie," she cooed, as Joren pinched her as punishment.

The baby climbed into his mother's lap. "Heather said she doesn't have to share the computer because she's older and I couldn't hit her anyway."

Kel smiled. "I'm done, anyway. Here you go, darling. " She sat him on a cushion, rising from the chair and pulling down her undersized t-shirt to cover the bit of midriff that had begun to show above her low-riding pajama pants. She kissed her husband on the nose playfully. "I'll be in the shower."


	2. Beautiful

**A/N:** Firstly, I would like to thank you for the two lurvely reviews. You make me feel so good about myself lol! I'm glad that there are still people around who like the KelJoren pairing. Am I the only one who thought that the last one ended a little bit abruptly?

Do you think the title of this chapter is too sappy?

Answer IN YOUR REVIEWS! (runs off being a review-freak)

And, replies.

**Blackcopper:** You are my first reviewer ever! hands out cookie. I'll try to keep up the good work! THANK YOU!

**Arachnomadness:** Thank you. It's the first fanfic I wrote I thought was fit to be put on the site, so I don't know if I deserve that compliment, but I'll take it anyway! I will keep writing as long as you keep REVIEWING (runs off being a review freak again). A cookie for you too. THANKS.

All right, A/N is getting too long, I just want to say that constructive criticism is also appreciated, as long as it's constructive and not just insulting my writing because you hate me for no particular reason. Also, if anyone thinks the rating should go up, please tell me. Now, without further ado….

It was funny, thought Joren, that someone so strong could be so beautiful. He wasn't much of a sap, as everyone who had ever met him knew, but Keladry brought out in him a quality of sweetness that was nonexistent in with anyone else. Though many observed Joren a tough guy, he was a man who loved a woman. And a man who loves a woman like Keladry can't be like any other average man.

He blamed her for his resounding non-toughness. Or, rather, her parents. If they hadn't given birth to her, he wouldn't have fallen in love with her, and the people who saw him near her wouldn't have qualified him as a complete and utter love struck incompetent mess (though I'm sure he exaggerated that description a little bit). She went from beautiful young woman to soccer mom, from ambitious police officer to room parent. She went from sweatpants to uniform to elegant skirt. She went from hair elastic to police badge to jeweled butterfly pin.

He remembered the first time he had seen her in a skirt.

_"We'd like to introduce to you our new officer, Keladry Mindelan! She's been offered position of co-Chief because of resounding skill in hand to hand combat as well as an intellect to beat my own! Keladry has gone through the academy in an amazingly little amount of time, impressing everyone there! Now, ladies and gentlemen, Keladry Mindelan!"_

_The audience clapped, and Kel could imagine that if her mother was there she would've been in the back clapping and crying like no one else. But Kel hadn't begun to receive her co-Chief's salary yet, and her parents wouldn't have been able to afford flying all the way from Tortall to Carthak, where her position was going to be. They could barely afford their expensive long distance phone calls until Keladry found out and immediately promised her salary so that they could talk to each other._

_As she walked up to shake the Chief's hand, Keladry looked down, pulling at uncomfortable skirt she had been forced into. It wasn't hers, obviously, but her sister's, and Kel was reminded that her sister had a more petite figure, though Kel's was more muscular. Kel smiled weakly at the audience and made some lame speech, aware that behind her Joren was smirking at her. She carefully walked back to her seat—forcibly placed next to her fellow co-Chief---and sat, folding her hands in her lap. _

_Since they had almost literally the same job, Kel and Joren's room were across the hall. Joren swore that the exact second after they got into the rooms, he had heard a rip and a resounding yell of "IT'S OFF!"_

He smirked slightly in remembrance. She had never told him exactly what happened to the skirt, and he had the tact not to ask. He carefully lay his arm over her shoulders, her head resting peacefully on his chest as she slept. As he glanced at her he smiled. It was difficult for him not to.


	3. Loving

**A/N:** Well, well, third chapter! Thank you all again for the wonderful reviews! Would it be okay to say I'll post again when I get 100? No, I'm kidding, I'll probably post at, um, how about 11 or 12?. Just a warning, it may be a little bit longer wait because I had the first three written and not the fourth yet. Also, I'm leaving mid-day tomorrow (but I might post tomorrow before I leave) to the 19th, and when I get back school starts a week later pout. That isn't to say I won't post, it's just I have teachers next year who give a lot of homework and there's a test in the first week! Gah! Just so my lurvely readers know, I'm trying to elaborate on Joren and Kel's characters because as one of you very special people said, they're an unlikely pairing (which is probably why I like them so much lol). Most of this will be done through flashbacks and dreams, as you see in this chapter. I'm trying to develop them at a realistic pace so that it doesn't seem out of character, unrealistic, or rushed. If it _does_ seem like this to you, please point it out in your REVIEWS, and please say the specific sentence/word/paragraph/anything else that you think is OOC/unrealistic/rushed. Also, the scene with Joren and his daughter is partly based on a memory, not just some corny thing I came up with. Well, maybe it's corny, but it happened (at least in part)!

Review responses:

Contagiously Funny: oh, stop. You make me blush. Well, don't stop. And you don't make me blush, but it sounded good lol. Thank you for R&Ring!

Rhiodanthe: I sent you a message talking about most of the stuff you said in your review, because I had a long response. But once again, thank you for putting your CC in CC form and not a flame. Thanks for the review!

Princess of the Rogues: Thank you! If you're considering getting into KJ, please know: I am not the first of the KJ's, there have been some before me, and you can probably find them through searching summaries. I didn't really consider KJ either until I read other fics. Thanks for the review!

Arachnomadness: Thank you for pointing that out about the "the exact second" line. Urg, that one's bad. I think Kel in a too-tight skirt is very funny, too. Thanks for the suggestion and the review!

Green Flames: I love KelJoren too. A lot of people don't like it because it's an unconventional pairing, it's good to know I'm not alone lol. Thank you so much for the review!

It was funny, thought Joren as he watched Keladry putting her daughter Natalie to bed, that someone who dealt with hardened criminals could be so loving. She lifted her daughter up by her armpits, smiling. Kel planted a last kiss on her daughter's forehead before handing her to Joren.

He sat up, placing his daughter in his lap and putting an arm around her. She giggled, her hazel eyes full of mirth. He leaned forward and tweaked her nose playfully. "I suppose you're too smart for that now, huh?" he asked her.

Natalie---called Nat----smiled proudly. "Yeah, daddy, I'm too smart now! Now, enough of this stupidness! Give me back my nose!"

Joren dutifully put her nose back on and pinched it into place. "Good night, Daddy!" squealed Nat, and bounced of off the bed.

As she left, the door opened so that they saw their son Neal walk on, his signature scowl on his face. "Goodnight, Neal," said Kel, opening her arms to her son. He stiffly hugged back, blue eyes darting out to avoid meeting his mother's. Instead, he looked his father straight in the eye. Father to son, blue to blue, their eyes met, and they didn't have to say anything.

"Sleep well!" called Kel after his back.

She then collapsed against her pillow, tired after a long day of bank robberies. She was asleep the moment after.

_"Girls can't do anything!" Joren yelled at her back. Even at the age of five, his father's opinions ran strong in his mind. _

_Kel simply turned, looked at him, and then turned again, her mousy brown hair flipping over her shoulder. _

_He yelled in frustration and ran after his father. _

----------

"Why do you think you'll be able to be co-Chief? Do you, Mindelan, honestly think that you could beat me?" sneered Joren. 

_Kel's face didn't show her anger. She gestured for him to follow her. She walked to the shooting range calmly. Once there, she drew her gun, looked at a target, and shot. She shot a rain of bullets onto the target, not outside the second circle once. Joren sneered again, copying her actions, except for the fact that when he was done, he dropped his gun and lunged forward to punch her in the face. Keladry easily blocked it, kicking him in the stomach. The fight continued for five minutes, the two sparring equally until Kel simply asked, "Do you think that I could leave now?"_

_Joren smirked. He shoved her backwards and Kel rolled her eyes. _

_----------_

"_Yeah, right," Joren muttered as the Chief announced to him that they were going to workd together "well, and without too much fighting". Even after his father was dead and the msygoynistic ideas weren't being poured into Joren's head, it wasn't like he liked Keladry. The sparring fight had been annoying. Obviously she had cheated. Otherwise, how could she have almost beat him?_

(People, the dreams were Joren's, because Kel is not a mindreader. The line 'stupidness" was done on purpose.)


	4. Too Many Memories

**A/N: **I was so happy when I went away for a week to come back and see all of these amazing reviews! For people who have been looking for me, I was at the beach with the family, enjoying the second to last week before school starts (horror! Horror!). Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Blueberry Sparkle: Thank you. Sometimes when I open reviews I'm nervous that people are going to flame because a lot of people don't like KJ too much, but when I see reviews like yours my fears are set to rest. Wasn't that poetic? Lol. Thank you again!

Nettle-Soup: Thank you, and I will try to keep up the good work because you all encourage me!

CRMurphy: Thank you. I hope I pull it off well!

Arachnomadness: Yeah. I'll try to post a lot this week before school starts. When it does, my schoolwork isn't too bad usually, so I'll still post often, but it definitely won't be everyday. As for writing the new chapters, everyone needs something to do during

science class! Kidding, lol, and thank you for the encouragement and review.

For weeks after his mother's death Joren hadn't cared at all. She hadn't been important in his life: just the female his father had chosen to marry, so that he could have a son. She had tried to rid him of misogynistic ideas from an early age, but Joren had quickly learned that to agree with his mother was to be beaten. And so always he had sneered down at the women and girls in his life, though a tiny part of him—very tiny---knew it was wrong. After his father died the tiny part started an internal battle, and though Joren was trying hard to still hate Keladry, the tiny part in him respected her and won the battle—won until it began to get bigger.

Joren's dreams woke him up, As he sat up, panting, his gaze fell upon the clock (3:23) and then the window. Keladry's soft breathing beside him went unnoticed as he stood. As beams of moonlight streamed in through the half open window, he began to wonder though he had long since understood his decision.

Joren didn't even put on shoes before going outside and closing the door. He just went out and began to run. Running, he thought, was simply that: moving away quickly. For Joren, he was moving away for the soft, warm, loving home he had somehow managed to create in the past ten years. One might wonder why that was something he wanted to run from.

When his father died Joren changed many things—his job, his appearance, his personality. Joren had once been his father's slave—now he worked with the police force. He had started to take care of himself when there was no one else he had to take care of—brushed his hair and shaved his face and took a shower every day. And once there weren't opinions he secretly—even to himself----hadn't agreed with clouding his mind, the part in his mind that was fair grew. Even without noticing it Joren began to accept Keladry, if not respect her. Her persistency, the way she wouldn't give up trying to prove herself to everyone around her, even him, was something he began to admire. So that was how it began—simply a slow, calm relationship, built on respect.

As he thought, Joren ran. He ran until he reached the graveyard—three miles away from his house. Silently he scaled the fence and stalked, angry at himself for coming here so much, to his father's grave. There was no R.I.P. on the grave, most likely, thought many, because no one wanted him to rest in peace. There was only one word on the grave stone—exactly as he requested—DIE.

Die wasn't talking about the fact that Joren's father was dead, nor was it speaking to one person in particular. It was more likely that it was speaking to the women in the world in general, and then eventually the whole world. Anger at the world was what had been in his mind as he died, and so anger was on his gravestone.

Joren knew he should've felt guilty for being the reason his father was angry, but somehow he couldn't force himself to be.

**A/N:** Cliffie! Was it too intense? Too cynical? Not fluffy enough? (Sorry if it wasn't, but even if Kel and Joren aren't fighting there can't be TOO much fluff) Tell me in your REVIEWS. I'll post again at 16. : - ).


	5. Goddess Bless!

**A/N:** Fifth chapter! Enjoy it. I'll post again when I get some reviews (sob sob). Since none of you cruel, cruel, heart-breaking (kidding, I still love you! Review for your forgiveness!) people reviewed, there are no reponses and I took longer to post. If I get 4 reviews, you'll get the next installment…

Agg, sorry the **A/N **is so short and doesn't mention anything important, but sheesh! I can't think with my brother singing in the shower SO LOUD. (runs off covering ears and screaming). Now, on with chapter five…

The sunlight streamed in through the window, brighter than anything else in the world, as if it were mimicking the moon from last night. Birds chirped, leaves rustled. Pink clouds left over from the sunrise passed lazily in front of the window. Somehow Kel knew the morning was too perfect for Joren to be there. And sure enough, when she opened her eyes, he wasn't. She stood up with a groan, grabbed a towel, and headed for the shower. It took her a minute to realize, through the sounds that were coming from the bathroom, that someone was already in the shower. She groaned again, running her hands through her oily mousy brown hair.

Groggy and not in the best of moods, Kel clomped down the stairs to make her children's lunches. It was her day off from work, she remembered as she idly spread peanut butter on a slice of potato bread. What was she going to do today?

Somehow, going out for lunch with Neal and then working on her garden seemed a little too predictable. She was _bored. _Even with her job, getting used to the same routine, with family life added, made her restless. Maybe that was why Joren sometimes ran at night: getting used to being so normal was nearly impossible for a person who hadn't been normal ever before.

Joren scrubbed his head in the shower, and not even to make it clean. He didn't like it anymore. Once his hair had been his pride and joy, something he could use to make women fawn over him and then mock them to their graves, but now it was only one thing: the proof that he was his father's son. Joren had seen the pictures: his father at age thirty-three looked exactly as he did now.

Pulling back the shower curtain and wrapping a towel around his slim hips, he noticed the electronic razor he had bought last year laying unused on the counter. He kept glancing at it, from the razor to his hair in the mirror, until Keladry opened the door without knocking, a towel in hand. Her face looked impatient.

She shooed him out of their bathroom, after a teasing kiss accompanied by his apology, and Joren heard the water running. Though he was supposed to be at work, he didn't feel like going too much. If there was some emergency, they'd call him.

He lay back on the bed with a satisfied groan, and flipped on the television. Immediately a woman screamed, pointing at a man with a gun ten feet away from her. A rapist, no doubt, from a stupid crime television show. Why all crime shows featured female victims he would never understand.

He flipped to the news, where a serious looking man the police force jokers had nicknamed, "Scary Sam" because he always scared officers out of bed when they slept in and got to work late, announced that there had been bank robberies all over the city. Some women had been beaten as men at gunpoint surrendered all the money in the vault. All police workers, or, as they were called more seriously, TPF (Tortallan Protection Force) were required to be there, day off or not. Only one word seemed to fit.

"Dang!" Joren muttered and jumped up from his bed. He scribbled a note to Kel and raced out the door.

_Dear Kel, _

_Robbers all over the city have attacked every Goddess Bless bank. Every woman working in one has been threatened, shamed or beaten because of her gender, and all the men either surrendered the money or were shot. We all have to go to the station as fast as possible, including you even though it's your day off. Hurry up!_

_Joren_

After finishing the letter, Kel mimicked her husband's words as she pulled on her uniform and ran out the door. But first, as she always did, she called Lalasa.

"Hi, this is Lalasa Isran and I can't come to the phone right now. Please leave a message after the tone. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeep."

"'Lasa, it's Kel, and I'm so sorry, but I need you to pick up the kids again. There's been this huge robbery and I should be out till late. Once they're home, you can leave them with Neal, just make sure they get home safe. Thank you!"

With that done, Kel chugged a cup of coffee. With the day spread out before her, she was pretty sure she would need it.

(Love it? Hate it? Want to know what happens next? Think I should change the rating because of Joren's one curse? Have any comments about the last chapter? Was it so bad that you couldn't stand to review? Was it so amazing that you were in shock and couldn't review? (Yeah, right.) Did you even notice that I updated at all? Want to answer my questions? Think this A/N is getting too long?

REVIEW!)


	6. Goddess Bless! Part II

**A/N:** I'm back! I got some reviews this time! And lovely reviews, at that.

Also, the two Neals are: Neal, Kel and Joren's son, and Neal, Kel's best friend. Neal and Neal live next door, so sometimes when Kel has work, she leaves her kids with Neal's wife, Yuki. (Last chapter I said leave them with Neal—I meant with Neal's wife.)

Thanks to:

Alanna22039: Thank you! I update soon for people who review me, the darlings that they are (wink wink)

Aeta Aella: Thank you. I'm updating just for you guys.

On with the show!

When Keladry raced into the room, panting after sprinting down the abnormally long hallway to the briefing room, all eyes turned to look at her coldly. Smiling slightly, obviously a little bit awkward, she quickly sat down in a chair next to Neal.

"What did I miss?" she whispered under the roar of noise—the arguments between Raoul Gold and Flyndon. Some other officers sat bored, glancing through the slideshow someone had set up but only a few were really watching. Kel hoped that she wasn't _too_ late.

"Not much," he whispered back, "Just a little lecture how for the people who don't have a day off should've been here earlier and an apology to us who did." He snorted. "Then Raoul started giving orders, and Flyn started to turn bright red, and they've been arguing ever since."

"How long?" asked Kel.

Neal shrugged. "Maybe forty minutes."

Kel nodded. At the rate they were going, it would be time for her to retire before they were even given orders. She sat back, glancing at the slideshow which only showed pictures of women running away from men dressed in all black and screaming.

Kel had almost drifted to sleep when Raoul barked, "Stone! Mindelan! Queenscove! Rose! Get up here!"

Rising slowly, Kel wondered why he had called only high-ranked officers up. What could he want them to do?

"I'm sure you all know our situation?" he inquired, eyebrows raised, when they were out of sight and earshot. At their nods, he continued. "As the highest-ranking officers here, Stone and Mindelan, what would you do?"

Keladry glanced at Joren, and he began. "I would split up our people, sir. Go to important places in the city that employ women—namely, the other Goddess Bless stores and companies. And, of course, send some people to the crime scene to investigate a little bit into the crime from last night."

Raoul nodded tightly. "Keladry? Do you agree?"

Kel nodded. "I would only add one thing, sir. Have some people start researching mafias or other private groups with prejudices against women. That way, we may be able to catch them before they commit another crime, which I'm expecting will be tonight. Just in case they strike earlier, though, I'd go with Joren's plan. "

Raoul nodded again. "I'm pairing you up. Keladry and Merric, you're going to the possible places for further crime. Joren and Nealan, you're going to the Goddess Bless banks. Keladry and Merric, you've got the Own Riders. Joren and Nealan, you get the TPF."

Kel looked in silent sympathy at Neal for two reasons. One was that just because Joren had gotten over hating women, he was still a jerk to almost everyone who wasn't her. The second was that the Own Riders would be much better for the case than the TPF. Neal glanced at Merric, as if asking if they could switch, but Merric shook his head.

"Own Riders!" called Raoul. "Follow Mindelan and Rose out the door! TPF! Stay here!"

As the fifty of the Own Riders trooped after Kel and Merric, Kel contemplated where they should go. Goddess Bless owned many things—supermarkets, phone companies, hair salons, and restaurants all over the city. It was hard to figure out where they would want to commit their next robbery. It probably wasn't even that Goddess Bless was the best place to rob, just that they were very pro-women, that someone had robbed them. The robbers obviously had something against women, and robbing Goddess Bless was the best way to show it.

"All right, people. I want groups of two, a boy and a girl in each group. You have thirty seconds." Kel's voice was commanding and loud so that everyone could hear it. Thirty seconds later, she had twenty-five groups, not including herself and Merric. "Okay," she began again, "Here are the locations. There are only twenty-three of them, so I'll have Wolset, Nicoline, Genlith, and Eldorne work together. Masbolle, Kennan, Johnson, Holly, you're together too. I want the groups of four at the phone company and the restaurant—the restaurant and 16th and the phone company at 27th. I don't care who goes where. You all have ways to contact me and Merric, right?" They all nodded again. "If anything happens—I mean anything from an odd guy coming in to some man in a black mask threatening a female cashier, you contact us. I mean no one but me or Merric." She held up the list Merric had been typing as she spoke. "Everyone, I'll assign you a place. You and you—hair salon on 7th.You and you—supermarket on 9th."

She gave assignments until her throat was dry and everyone had one. Once they were all gone, she turned to Merric. "I was thinking we'd just walk around, going to wherever they say they need help, but mostly just dropping in every once in a while to make sure they're all working. Sound good?"

Merric nodded. "Let's go."

For the first hour nothing much happened. Everyone was on alert, but also inconspicuous, which was why, thought Kel, the Own Riders were doing it instead of the TPF. But at exactly 12:00 noon, they got three pages at once stating that masked men had come into their stores. A minute later, three more, and so on. Since they couldn't go all six places, Kel called Neal.

"Hello?" answered Joren's voice.

Startled, Kel asked, "Is Neal there?"

"No, he's talking the cashier about the robberies."

Kel smiled. "Tell him to get everyone you have everywhere that has a Goddess Bless sign on it everywhere in the city. We've got two people in each, but we're getting messages all over the place that they need help."

"Got it. We should be there soon." It was Neal's voice this time, but instead of talking to him Kel just hung up, grabbing Merric's arm and running into a hair salon after a black-masked man.

Within an hour everything was over. The officers and Own Riders had managed to capture no one, which was really quite embarrassing, but no one had been injured or taken hostage, and none of the female workers were harmed. Finally they went back to the station, where the four officers---Stone, Mindelan, Queenscove, and Rose---were called into a separate room.

It was the room where the research was being done. Raoul stood by one computer, looking almost ready to explode. On the screen was a picture of a man who looked exactly like Joren. Under the picture was a caption: "Mafia leader. Frank Stone, age 33 (year: 1971)." On his face was Joren's signature scowl, and to the left of the picture it read, "Escaped from life sentence. Found dead, August 13th, 1991. Cause of death: Gun wounds."

Keladry and the others looked at Joren. Raoul's red face turned even redder when Joren's expression changed to match his father's scowl exactly.

"Stone!" roared Raoul. "You've got some explaining to do!"

(Hehe, Joren didn't tell everyone the secret of his past? Bad boy! Review for the next part!)

IMPORTANT: Joren and Keladry were both co-chief and still are, making them the highest ranking _officers_. Raoul is chief. His new name is Raoul Gold, because obviously I can't call him Raoul O. Golden Lake and M. Peak. He doesn't do field work, just paperwork and he also gives assignments. He retired from the Own Riders (combination of King's Own and Queen's Riders)which is a private service which sometimes helps the TPF and sometimes works solo, leaving Flyndon in charge of them. To help out Raoul, Flyndon is partly Chief as well, which is why he sends Kel her monthly payment and stuff while Joren's is from Raoul. The Own Riders are helping with the Goddess Bless Bank robbery case. Also, Rose is Merric of HollyROSE. He isn't a very key person in the overall story, only in this chapter. But if you guys like him I can bring him back. As for Masbolle, who Kel yells at to get in a group, yes, it is Dom. Even if he's not Kel's love interest (obviously) I couldn't leave him out. He's too awesome. I will bring him back if you review and tell me to!


	7. Story Of My Life

**A/N:** Well, well, well, here we are again, at the beginning of a lovely new chapter! (at least I hope it's lovely.) Hope you enjoy! If you do, you always know that that lovely little button that says "review" needs some love—so click it and tell me what you think!

NOTE: Misogynist is a person who is against women. Misogyny is hatred of women.

Joren had told no one in the world but Keladry the story of his father. Mostly people were okay with that—not many people cared enough about the blonde enough to want to know about his past. But at this moment, Raoul, who looked to be on the verge of killing Joren, seemed to care. In fact, he seemed infuriated that Joren hadn't told him that his father had been a mafia leader.

Well. Imagine that.

Kel knew the story, but it wasn't hers to tell. She glanced at Joren, a soft smile on her lips and encouragement in her eyes. He smirked back at her through the tension. It was funny how she always managed to be smiling.

"Do you want everyone in Corus to hear you? I'll tell you the whole story as long as you stop talking so loud."

Kel smiled wider. He always managed to be a jerk, even when in a tight situation.

Raoul turned purple before Joren sighed and continued. "All right, I'll tell. My father was a mafia leader. I guess it wasn't really even a mafia though, more of an organization. It was an organization for misogynists.

"My mother was an amazing woman. Somehow she had been forced into a marriage like a modern-day arranged betrothal, but she made the most of it. She always tried to get me away from my father as much as possible. She met some mothers from down the street and once a week I played with their sons. Their fathers were all normal. Even at a young age, I was envious.

"It's not like I could do anything about it, though. If I ever tried to convince my father that he was wrong, he would hurt me—not like a normal father would discipline, but hard—just like he did to my mother when she did the same. I kept trying, though, until at age thirteen my father dragged me to my first "meeting". There they discussed whom they would kill—and they actually talked about their wives. I remember sitting in the back with some of the other boys and worrying, scared our mothers would be next.

"The meetings continued for months, and each time I'd go I'd get more and more nervous because sometimes they'd even talk about my mother. Then one day something finally happened. My father told them all that my mother was pregnant. The decision was made: if it was a boy, she'd live. If it was a girl, she'd die. I came nearly sobbing home to my mother that night, scared for her life. When I told her she didn't seem surprised. That may have been what scared me most.

"And so after eight more months of waiting, the baby was born—a beautiful girl. Her eyes were blue like mine, except even brighter, sort of shining with innocence—and she smiled brighter than I've seen anyone in my life. She was born with a full head of hair---raven black like my mother's. She was truly the most beautiful thing I'd ever seen, and smart. She used to find ways to wake me up, so I'd let her out of her crib and take her walking with me. To me she was the most precious thing in the world. She'd open her eyes wide and smile and I'd think that if my father ever did anything to her I'd run away, once and for all.

"The week after my baby sister was born, my mom ran away—and with good reason, too. She barely escaped and my father was furious. One night I walked in and he was standing about her crib, looking crazily at her, a knife in hand. I wasn't afraid for myself—I could defend myself---but I was afraid he'd do something to Jana.

"He turned his head to look at me and I was even more scared. His eyes were glazed over, and his breath was coming short. I could tell he was drunk. That scared me even more because my father had a huge tolerance for alcohol. He must've drunk a lot to be like that. He started to talk, and at first I couldn't understand him, but I managed to make out, "I have a suitable punishment for that woman." I always hated how he referred to my mother. "I'll kill Jana."

"It took all of my willpower not to grab her and run as fast as I could. But I knew he'd catch me, and if he didn't one of his friends would. Anyway, I didn't have any money, nor did I know where my mother was, so we wouldn't have survived.

"The words I forced myself to say made the bile rise in my throat, but I forced it down and continued anyway. "Why kill Jana? She hasn't done anything. Why not find that woman and kill her instead?" My throat was so choked I was surprised he even understood.

"Fine," I remember he said, "Just find that woman." And so I found my mother and told her what he wanted to do. I told her to take Jana and run away further. Since I was the only one who'd be able to find them, it wouldn't matter. My father would never be able to get to them. I'd warn them first if he tried.

"My mother wanted me to come with her, and it was hard to refuse. I had to stay, though. It may have been a stupid thing to do, but I felt like I needed to.

"When I went home my father had been out. He got home an hour later, drunk again. "Where's Jana or that woman?" he slurred.

"I had decided on my lie much before that. "When I got home she was gone. I couldn't find that woman," I told him. "Maybe she stole Jana and ran."

"He was too drunk to do anything about it. He nodded sleepily, like a little baby, and abruptly ran to the bathroom. I heard noises indicating that he had vomited into the toilet. I knew he believed me, but still—when he was hungover _and_ angry, he was someone to avoid.

"Many would've been afraid for their life at this point, but I wasn't. Since my father was always drunk, I could survive any attempts on my life. Also, at fifteen, I was taller than my father, albeit only a little. I was confident.

"With drunken rage and drunken stupidity, life went on. I became my father's caretaker—more like his slave, actually. I came to meetings to be consulted, since my father couldn't be. I never committed a crime, but I watched them until I simply stopped caring. I was just numb all the time, sort of standing there, not really trying to stop them, but not participating. It was all routine, mechanical. I stopped shaving, or brushing my hair. I even stopped taking showers regularly. I was taking care of my father, but not taking care of myself at all.

"That went on for too long. A few days after I turned sixteen, something stopped it. I got the newspaper for my father—another routine---and glanced at the headline. It was a picture of my mother. In shock, I read the article as I walked home. She had been walking home from the grocery store, her arms full of groceries and Jana, when someone pushed her into the street. She was dead instantly. Jana was in the hospital. It had happened in Port Caynn, which was about forty miles from where we lived, in the Grimhold Mountains. ((1))

"I realized that I couldn't let my father see the article. If he did, he'd know where Jana was. He couldn't know. I stuck the paper in a garbage can and told him there had been none left at the machine where I usually bought them. Well, I would've, but he was too drunk to even notice that I didn't bring it to him.

"As most of you know, I was taking classes at the academy for some of this time. My father didn't know where I went. That day I skipped classes and went to the hospital. When I finally found her, it wasn't too pretty."

Joren didn't want to continue. Then he'd start to remember—her eyes, duller than he'd ever seen them and her raven black hair matted with sweat. Lying in that hospital gown with the IV hooked up to her arm, she hadn't looked like anyone he remembered. He'd known it was his sister simply because of the smile she gave him.

He glanced at Kel, who was looking down. He didn't want to see anyone else's reactions at the moment. He, too, looked down, and then continued.

"Too soon after I got there they made me leave. I wanted to bring her home, but they said that before my mother died she had written her will, which stated clearly that Jana was not to go with me if I was still living with my father. She was sent to some distant relative's home when she got out of the hospital.

"When I got home there were doctors in our house. How my father had managed to get them there I had no idea. He lay on his bed, having stubbornly refused to move. As I was quickly told, he'd been shot---multiple times---in the stomach. They were expecting him to die any minute.

"Maybe I should've been sad, or even worried. But I wasn't. I just sat with my father. "At least I've done one thing," he croaked. "Added another male to the world."

"I don't know why that made me so mad. Maybe it was combined with the shock from earlier about the crash, or maybe it was just that he thought that the only good thing a man could do: give another boy to the world. Whatever it was, I was infuriated. I peered into his hard eyes and told him exactly what I thought of him.

"You destroyed the lives of countless women. You nearly killed your own wife and daughter. You took away my life and my freedom." I stood up, and I was ready to leave the room when he said his last words.

"I want to be put in an alley. I don't want them to know I died with doctors around me. And to you, son: DIE."

1. It doesn't say where Stone Mountain is on the maps, so I'm making it in the Grimhold Moutains. I'm just guessing about the number of miles

**A/N:** Sorry that was so bad. I'm procrastinating and not working as much as I can before school starts tomorrow. Concrit is welcome—even just regular criticism. I know it sucks. Especially the last paragraph. By the way, it wasn't how I originally planned for him to die. I just realized halfway through writing his heart attack that earlier I'd said he died of gunshot wounds. He doesn't want them to know he died with doctors because he wants his friends and fellow mafia members to think he died in a fight, or something more manly than a heart attack. I know, when dying it doesn't matter if you're manly or not, but this guy is a crazed, drunken fool. Give him a break.

Hehe. Or maybe that's just my excuse. (apologetic look) I _am_ sorry it's so bad. I just wanted to post one last thing before school.

Funny how that sounds similar to, "I just wanted to post one last thing before I die."


	8. Story Of My Life Part II

**A/N:** Back again! I understand how bad last chapter was. I'm so sorry. I understand how bad it sucked, and I understand and forgive all you dearies for not reviewing. I didn't even get a flame. (by the way, that darling little review button needs some love—and so do I. I haven't gotten a review in two chapters! Wa!runs off in tears Or not. ) So I decided to write a really really really good, long chapter to thank you for not flaming me very cooked and serving me at a barbecue. Maybe it's not too good—I'm sort of writing it off the top of my head---but it's the longest chapter yet. If you don't like it, please tell me. If you do like it, please tell me. So pretty much, if you even read this, please tell me. I seriously want to know how many people actually read it. And I'm so sorry for not updating faster. I've been procrastinating (slaps self on hand). But it's awesome that you're reading this. Thankies!

NOTE: I have no idea if The Roof Of The World and Carthak are far or close, I just assumed they were far because one is really, really hot and the other is really, really cold. I don't think they're on the same map in any of the books. Correct me if I'm wrong.

(I just realized I haven't been doing this.) Disclaimer: Don't own anything except for Joren and Kel's kids and the plot. Some dreams don't come true, (pout)

When Joren finished the room was in complete silence. No one moved. Raoul's discreet cough broke through the tension.

"Err…" he began. "Thank you for telling us that."

Everyone could tell he was awkward, because before he had desperately wanted to yell at Joren, and now he wanted to express pity. But no one would do that, though they all wanted to. It was perhaps the one worst thing you could do to Joren.

Joren glared. "You're welcome. May I leave now?"

Raoul started. He hadn't expected that even Joren could go back to being his same old jerky self so quickly.

Well, there goes Joren to prove everyone wrong. Again.

When the Chief nodded, Joren walked out. Everyone felt the tension lessen as the blonde man left.

Neal sighed. "What are we going to do? If he knows someone who might be connected, I don't want to be the one to ask. But he might

Everyone turned to stare at Kel, who had her eyes on her shoes. She yawned. "I'm going to go put my kids to bed. If this needs to continue, you can come with me, but I'm going home. Neal?"

She grabbed his arm, pulled him to her car, and shoved him in. She grabbed his keys and started the car. Usually, since Neal only had one car and Yuki needed it to drive her children around, he drove to work with Kel and sometimes Joren. Today Neal had gotten a ride with someone else because it was Kel's day off.

Raoul, who had followed them, sighed. "Tomorrow, then."

Kel nodded crisply and drove away.

As they drove, she and Neal were silent. Both tired and lost in their own thoughts, talk was scarce. When they finally got home, Kel murmured a goodbye and trudged to bed, just glancing in to make sure her children were asleep. Then she collapsed on her bed, falling asleep the second her head hit the pillow.

When Joren came into his bedroom after a night of pacing the station and running all over the city, he was tired. It was morning—just not the time of morning when people were normally awake. The clock told him it was around three.

As tired as he was, Joren was sure he wouldn't be able to sleep. Nonetheless, after taking off his shoes he climbed into bed, putting his arm around Kel. She sighed in her sleep.

Laying back, Joren wished he hadn't told Raoul everything. He could've just told him the parts including his father—he wouldn't have had to go into detail about his mother and his sister. It plagued him, still—that she would still be in an orphange or with an adopted family at age 18—maybe starting community college or working some bad job with minimum wage, as he had a happy life with a wife, two kids, and a job he liked. He had been wanting to find her since the day his father died, but the hospital wouldn't give him any information and the day he went back she had been moved to a different hospital. Before around a year ago he had been searching more diligently, but after he realized that she could be anywhere from the Roof Of The World to Carthak, his motivation had significantly sagged. He had given up the search entirely.

It had annoyed him then, but it burdened him now. He never wanted to think about it, but sometimes he still wondered if she was looking for him—if she even remembered him.

He doubted that she did. She had been only two when the accident had happened. She probably wouldn't remember. She might not even know that the family she was living with wasn't really hers. It might be better if she never knew. Some people thought ignorance was bliss—and with knowledge of her father burdening her, she might lose her happiness. Joren couldn't do that to his only sister.

He never even considered the possibility that she had been thrown out to the streets, and had an illegal job, or begged for food. Whenever he imagined her she was in school with her friends, laughing and talking----having the perfect life that he had never had. It was what she deserved. It was even what he had deserved—or he had at least deserved the opportunity. But their father had made that impossible.

By now it was later—almost five. Joren finally closed his eyes and let his mind go blank. He fell asleep shortly after.

Kel hadn't bothered to set an alarm. She always woke up on time. Dragging herself out of bed, she had to untangle Joren's arm from around her shoulders. She smiled idly. It was nice that he was home for once.

Once out of the shower, she went about her normal routine. She made lunch for Neal and Natalie, got them to the bus, and got ready to go to work. By the time she was going back into her room to get her badge, Joren was up.

She smiled softly at him as she rummaged through a pile of things she had thrown onto her table last night as she searched for it. As she was about to leave, having found it, his gaze stopped her. She sighed.

"Tell Raoul I'm not coming in today."

"What?" she turned back around, surprised. It wasn't his day off. He never faked sick. Why would he suddenly be skipping work? It didn't really matter—all they were doing today was talking to Goddess Bless employees to see what they could learn about the criminals---but she was confused.

"I'm going to find her."

Kel didn't need to ask who he was going to try and find. She already knew. She nodded and left.

Neal climbed into the car, groggy as usual. "Gabriela has earned herself a new nickname—Gabby. She wouldn't stop screaming all night."

Kel smiled. Gabby was Neal's eight-month old baby. He hadn't been getting much sleep lately, needless to say. Kel felt bad for him, considering the day they'd had yesterday. They drove in companionable silence, Neal savoring the rare quiet.

When they got to the station, Raoul was waiting for them. His face was troubled. "I've got you two talking to victims all morning. In the afternoon, we're doing the same thing we did yesterday. Where's Stone?"

Kel had decided on her lie already. "Sick, sir. He's not coming in."

Raoul frowned. "Fine. You know where the right room is. Get to it."

Kel nodded and sauntered into her room, not too excited about her day's work. No doubt she'd end up tired, and nothing more would've been done towards solving the case. She forced a smile at her first civilian to interview.

"Hi, I'm Keladry Mindelan," she began, holding out her hand. The girl, a blonde with frizzy hair and a pug nose, smiled and introduced herself too.

"I'm so glad that you're all trying to help find those evil people. The first thing they did when they came in was spill all over the floor obnoxiously. When I was cleaning, he stepped on my hand and broke my nail! I was like, "Hello, I _just_ got a mani cure. You are so totally going to pay for that!"

Inwardly Kel grimaced, glad that she could still hide her emotions well.

Two hours, four broken nails, a ruined perm, a broken nose, a stained dress, and eight employees later, Kel was ready to check herself into a mental asylum. Finally she took her fifteen minute break, collapsing onto the couch in the lounge. A minute later someone put something warm in her hand. She opened her eyes and glared at Dom.

"You ruined a minute of blessed sleep and an excuse not to interview any more employees with broken nails. Consider yourself lucky I don't currently have the energy to kill you."

Dom smiled cheerily. "I always do." His expression turned more serious. "So, how have you been, my dear co-chief? Interviewing more civilians? And by the way, that is coffee. You should be grateful."

Kel snorted. "I am grateful. Or course I am. And yes, I am stuck interviewing civilians. Let me guess—you and the rest of the Own Riders have a day off?"

He sighed. "I wish. We're stuck, just like you are. Only, we have to interview men—so instead of broken nails I have to deal with blows to egos, and broken arms. It's not really much better."

Kel nodded. "I suppose not." She glanced at the clock. "I've got to get going. Thanks for the coffee, Dom."

He saluted in return, walking off back to the Own Riders' wing of the station. Kel turned the opposite way.

When she walked into her office, she expected to find another ditzy looking girl, giggling to herself as she twirled her hair around and around on her finger. Instead, a girl with raven-black hair and sparkling blue eyes sat in her chair, staring in front of her.

Kel raised her mug of coffee to her lips and took a sip, preparing herself. She might not look ditzy, she thought, but that didn't mean that she wasn't. As she went through the standard, "Hi, I'm Keladry Mindelan, please tell me what you saw…" her mind wandered through the boring speech. Black hair and blue eyes. That sounded a little bit like---

But something told her it wasn't her, and Kel wasn't going to get her hopes up again. The last time she had, she had gotten Joren's hopes up too, and then they had been crushed. She wasn't going to do that again.

The girl nodded. "Thank you. It's nice to know that those people are being taken care of. They're horrible. By the way, I work at the phone company. My name is Jana Smi---"

Kel cut her off with a glance. "I'm so sorry, I don't mean to pry—but are you adopted?"

Jana looked startled. "Err---why do you need to know?"

Kel sought a fitting excuse. "I've just heard about someone like you, and I heard someone say that you might be connected to the case in some way. I'm probably totally off, but---"

It was Kel's turn to be interrupted. "Well, yes, I was adopted. When I was two, my mother was hit---"

But Kel knew the story. She wasn't listening. She had already brought her phone up to her ear and was already dialing Joren. When he picked up with a gruff "Hello?", she answered quickly.

"Come to the station. We found her."

**A/N:** Sort of a filler. Next chapter comes the reunion which may be bad because sometimes I make emotional scenes sappy/corny. Anyway, it isn't really a cliffie, but if you want to know what happens next, you can always drop me a review!

(when you see lots of returns, that's a break. When I did these other ones, they didn't show up.)


	9. Orders of an Odd Man

**A/N:** Well, well, back after two weeks. I'm not going to lie and say I was soo busy with school work, because it's so easy I can finish most of it while the teacher is still explaining it. The real reason I haven't updated is because I had a small case of writer's block. And, unfortunately, I had no reviews to help me out of my horrible horrific horror. I'm still kind of suffering, and this one is not going to be as long, I think, because I really can't think of anything. So I'm doing kind of a criminal-ish thing instead of a big Joren-and-Jana-hug-and-everything-is-all-right kind of chapter, this one is about the evil people and their REAL motives. Dun dun dun. Well, the A/N is getting long, so I'll stop with one more comment: please review!

Orders of an Odd Man

After his death the men had found Frank Stone's "will" easily. It was where he loved to be. Yes, it was a little bit strange to leave your will in the compartment under the sink in your favorite bar, but Frank was an odd man.

Instead of how most people wrote their wills—in a room that seemed so starched that everyone was surprised they could move, with a lawyer perched stiffly on an over-stuffed chair from the Victorian era---Frank had written his on a bar napkin. Instead of using a gold fountain pen, or typing on a brand new computer, Frank had written his will in the most vulgar of substances—blood.

But it didn't really matter _how_ he had written the will, because the words on the blood-stained bar napkin were much more important.

FIND HER AT 18.

And so they had. Of course, no one wondered who it was. They all knew that the only female in Frank's life other than his dead wife was his daughter. They had found out where she worked, and almost laughed at the coincidence. They could find the girl and bring harm to her while robbing the institution that seemed to have been created to oppose them.

But that was always what they called it—a coincidence. They never thought that Jana had known about her father and his henchmen, and they never thought that she had worked at Goddess Bless, not for the money to go shopping, or get her nails done, like other girls, but to make up for him. She gave all of the money she earned to Goddess Bless' charity, a separate part of the business.

They never knew. So when they crept into the salon that day, they never thought that Jana would be expecting them. They never knew that she was completely filled in on everything they said at all of their meetings because of her clever diguise.

How she learned when the meetings were was easy. Frank had made sure that when she was adopted, she went to a man who was in his group. Whenever he told his wife he was going bowling, with a less than discreet wink---the wife knew, they just didn't think Jana did---Jana followed him. Even she was surprised how little attention they paid to the small beggar huddled under a grimy blanket in a corner. The alley where they met was easy to get into. Since they all assumed the beggar was a man, they never did anything to her. By the time the meeting was over, Jana had always slipped out, left her blanket in her small grimy corner, and gotten home before the man. Sometimes it was so easy Jana herself wondered if the men were painfully stupid or if she was a genius.

Of course the men never knew any of this. They didn't know much of anything.

Once they had found Jana in the salon, they made their plans. The day after the main robberies, they went to the store where she worked. As she boredly discussed when the next appointment for highlights should be with a woman so plastic it looked like she was some little girl's life-sized doll, the men smiled. An hour later she locked up for the lunch break, and as Jana left, one man grabbed her and pulled her into a corner.

She rolled her eyes. There were three of them—versus her. Versus her_ and_ the four Own Riders who had been hiding in the hair salon an hour.

The fight was over quickly, though the men were good. They got away because of a moronic female officer who fumbled with the handcuffs.

The men felt as stupid as Jana did by the end of the day. Jana had let them get away---she blamed herself, not the blonde moron---and the men hadn't gotten who they had to get. All in all, the day was a tiring and frustrating one for the both of them.

**A/N:** You still don't find out what happens with Joren and Jana. Dun dun dun. I want one review for an update. Pleasie—just one. .


	10. All I Wanted Was A Cup OF Tea

**A/N:** back again. Did you miss me? (a resounding NO echoes through the room. I ignore it) Yes? THANK YOU! YOU MAKE ME FEEL SO LOVED. Anyway, I hope you like the chapter.

But before that, a response for my lovely reviewers!

Kris: Thank you! I've read a lot of modern-kel-is-in-the-police-force fics, so I kow what you mean. I'm glad it is an asset instead of a liability. Hehe. There _isn't _enough K/J out there, I definitely agree with you. Thanks again for the lovely review!

Crazy Lady Knight: I was hoping it would fill in the gaps, because Jana was kind of a mystery, but I really had thought a lot about who she was with and what she was doing, so I really enjoyed writing the last chapter. Thank you for the review! You were my first in three or four chapters, so it was great. !

On with the show!

Joren slammed his phone shut, rolling his eyes. So excited about everything! It was as if she actually thought she'd found his long-lost sister. They lived in a big city, and Jana wasn't too rare a name. He almost expected to see some blonde girl flipping gum, who had told Kel that she died her hair. It wasn't that he didn't love his wife, but sometimes she jumped to conclusions a little to fast.

And he didn't? He hadn't even given the girl a chance. But still, he didn't hope. It could even have been some punk who had stolen Kel's phone.

Some punk who knew that on that particular day, he was off looking for his long-lost sister named Jana who had been orphaned at the age of two?

Jana had thought it was a little weird that as soon as she told the officer a little bit about her life she had jumped up rather spontaneously and dialed someone on her phone. Once she'd overheard that all TPF were insane. It seemed to make a little more sense after meeting Kel.

But after Kel had sat down and begun explaining her excitedness at a rate that was hard to follow, Jana didn't seem to think she was so insane. She understood. She admitted that she barely remembered Joren, but what she did remember was the kindest man she had ever met—and blue eyes, sparkling just like her own.

Joren was halfway to the station when he heard it. A boom and then a shriek. And then he saw the explosion. Red and orange flames erupted from the building. In a second he had turned his car around and begun to speed towards it.

When he finally got to the building he realized that it was a Godess Bless store. He couldn't tell much else because most of the building was burning. As he looked at it, surprise still overwhelming him, he didn't notice the three black-clad men sneaking up behind him until one of them slammed a long piece of metal over his head and he fell to the ground in a slump.

When they had been waiting an hour and Joren still wasn't picking up his phone, Kel got impatient. And then another hour later, when it was dark and he still wasn't there, she decided to go home. Kel, Jana, and Neal drove home in near silence—Neal was asleep after a day similar to the one Kel had had. Barely managing to keep her eyes open, Kel finally trudged into the house and fell asleep.

But Jana wasn't tired. Instead of going to sleep on the couch, she flicked on the TV, settling comfortably on an armchair, sitting sideways, her head on the back of it and her legs over the armrest. The room was dark except for the ight of the Tv, getting brighter and dimmer as the images changed. The first channel that turned on was the news. She yawned through some celebrity's latest love interest until an explosion on the screen startled her. With the backround of a fire, a blonde man was clubbed over the head and slumped to the ground, screaming as he fell.

Jana didn't know who it was, nor did she know what building it was, but she did know that Kel should know about it. But when she turned around to run to her room, Kel was standing behind her, mouth wide with shock.

"All I wanted was some tea," she muttered, "And now I have to go save my husband."

**A/N:** Sorry it was so short and kind of a cliffy. Wasn't the best writing either. Whatever, though, I'm not really in a writing frame of mind, if you know what I mean. I'll update at the next weekend with 17 reviews (two more), or tomorrow if there's 2 more by then. (wink wink).


	11. Can I have an Advil?

**A/N:** I'm so sorry I've been gone so long. I had this whole issue with my computer (I won't go into it) anyways it's fixed now. I was looking at the fics on this site and I'm like, "Where's the KJ?" So to keep it alive, I had to post, lol. Thanks to my lovely reviewer, Kris. I really hope you haven't like abandoned me since I've been gone since like September. God, I feel horrible. Well, Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah (a little bit late, sorry) Happy Kwanza, Happy Winter Solstice (yeah I have no idea when that is but I hope you had/have fun), and Happy Diwali (that's in November/October I'm pretty sure, but still…). Happy Holidays!!!!!!! I hope your holiday is as happy as mine. And just by the way, a review makes a great present, and I don't mind if it's a little bit late….

Kris: I feel so like virtuous now that I've saved your life, lol. Yeah don't worry about not making sense, I have the same problem lol. Thanks, I really liked that line too. I've always imagined Kel saying something like that. And as for naming the son Neal, I like to think that Kel sort of softened Joren up when she married/dated him, but maybe that's just me imagining things. If you're skeptical, maybe he and Neal became friends? Or at least non-enemies. Anyway, I'm rambling, but thank you so much for all your lovely reviews!!

And finally,

Chapter 11, Can I have an Advil??

(by the way, as someone pointed out, I use a lot of Americanisms, which is because I am, in fact, American. An advil is like a pill that you take for a headache. If you're still confused ask me in a review **wink wink**)

It only took Kel three minutes to dress and go through the door, because that's just the kind of person Kel was. As always, she left her kids with Yuki, apologizing for the lateness. She and Jana took off, speeding along their street. They were completely alone on the city streets, skipping lights as Kel muttered to herself about how bad a police officer she was. When they finally reached the Goddess Bless store, it was even worse than it had seemed before. The TPF had just arrived, and they were everywhere, swarming by the two or three people trapped underneath rafters.

Kel knew that by now, the real criminals had left. Now was the hard part—trying to figure out where they had gone. Jana shook Kel's shoulder after the woman had spaced out for a while.

"The men we saw on the TV—I've seen them before," said the younger woman. "When I was working at the Goddess Bless salon, they snuck in. It was hard to see where they went, but I remember they turned left from the hair salon on 5th. That would put them at due west."

Kel was wide-eyed, but not really surprised. It figured that all Stones would have amazing policing abilities.

"All right, let's go," she said. Jana, not excited about facing off with criminals, but excitement for seeing her brother filling her veins, climbed into the car.

It was ten minutes before they saw anything. Then a man who looked thoroughly intoxicated came up to them. "You got a death wish, man? Ain't no one go past that door, 'less you be dead or the chief."

Boredly Kel flashed her badge and climbed out of the car. Her hand fingering the door knob that the man had indicated, she glanced back at Jana. "You don't have to come, if you don't want to."

Jana shrugged. She followed Kel into the building. Jana was slightly surprised that Kel hadn't seemed worried at all about the man's comment that only the chief and dead people went through the door.

But Kel knew that Joren was alive. If he were ever murdered, it wouldn't be in a place like this. Not him.

The place was darkened, dim. Its windows were broken and there was broken glass on the floor. Just by looking at the rickety old stairs you could tell they would creak. There were beer bottles over grimy tables and bloodstains on the floor. It was enough that it would've made any normal person leave.

So obviously, Kel went right to work.

She climbed up the stairs with Jana behind her, wincing at each creak. Upstairs it was more of the same—beer bottles, broken glass, blood….

That was, until they saw Joren. He was sprawled on the floor, blood pooling from a cut on his leg. His eyes were shut but Kel knew he was awake. His breathing was irregular—he had lost too much blood. She rushed over to take his pulse.

"And who might you be?"

**A/N:**cliffie!!!!!review. I need advice—how do I make Kel save Joren without making him seem helpless??? Suggestions are appreciated. Is it too cliché? I was thinking so but I needed a cliffie-ish way to cut it off so that you would review.


	12. Important Notice

Hey, guys, if anyone is in fact still reading what I post. Anyway, with the end of the school year approaching, I have been increasingly busy, which is why I haven't posted in months. I am considering starting a hiatus. If anyone objects, please drop me a review. Anyway, I want to write if people enjoy it, so I'll make an effort if people want me to. Anyway, review please!! Tell me what you think.


	13. Tolerant of Insanity

The two women spun at the sound of the strange voice. It sounded raspy, but almost as if it were meant to sound so. As if whoever was speaking had spent the last two days with no water, his throat caked with dust, so that his voice would scare any newcomers who managed to make it past his crew.

"Mr. Smith? You're the chief?"

Kel glanced at Jana. For all that she didn't know her well, she didn't exactly seem like the type to know mafia leaders who lived in bad parts of the city.

The man squinted. For the first time, Kel studied him. There was a bloodstain on his grayish t-shirt, just beneath the collarbone. But the blood was brown, and the stain old. She frowned. His hair was brownish—dirty looking. He had a smattering of freckles over his more-than-once-broken nose, wide forehead, and pointed chin. He almost resembled Neal, but for his pointed ears and pure blue eyes.

Mr. Smith, she guessed his name was. How sad that such a formidable man didn't even have a slightly scary name to go along with it.

Before she could wonder why she was dwelling on that while her husband was close to bleeding to death, the man whistled. Three of his cronies, the ones Kel and Jana had seen outside, emerged from the window.

The first one ran at Kel until she pulled out the gun she had thought to strap to her waistband. The three men didn't seem intimidated. One pulled out another gun that matched hers in size.

The fight didn't last long. Jana stood in front of Joren to keep the men away while Kel took care of the other four. Tossing one over her shoulder on top of the wounded and unable to move Mr. Smith, she banged the other two's heads together and they slumped to the floor. Jana just watched, impressed. She could protect herself if she had to, but she would never be as good as Kel.

With a sigh, Kel knelt to her husband. Stripping a stained curtain off the rusting rod, she blotted Joren's leg with it. Then, with Jana's help, she lifted him down the stairs, and into the back seat of the squad car. Then, turning on the siren, she went thirty miles per hour over the speed limit and ran four stop signs and three red lights. Finally she reached the ER. Calling a friend of Neal's that she only half knew, she had a stretcher brought out, which they placed him on. Following him into the hospital room, she gave Jana the keys, telling her to go him, and promptly fell asleep in the chair.

When Kel woke up, the first thing she saw was the IV hooked up to her husband's arm. The second thing she saw were her oily bangs, hanging in her eyes. Not quite awake and extremely groggy, she stumbled to his bed. His blue eyes instantly opened.

His eyebrows knit. "What happened?"

Kel brushed her hair behind her ears. "You were knocked out at the Goddess Bless store. Jana and I saw it on TV. We went to the Lower West Side, where we expected they would be. We found a building that people warned us not to go into, went upstairs, and there you were, wounded on the floor. I," she fought off another yawn-"knocked the cronies out, and brought you to the hospital. Then, I must've fallen asleep. I told her to go home, gave her the keys…"

"What about Raoul? Did you call the station?"

Kel glanced at the clock. "Relax. It's five thirty in the morning," The overly bright fluorescent lights were deceiving. In an hour, she'd call the station and then Neal. She yawned again. But now, that overstuffed chair was looking attractive…

Just as she was about to fall asleep again, his voice woke her. "What's she like?"

She almost asked who he meant before she realized how obvious it was and nearly smacked herself on the forehead. She glanced at him. His eyes were calm and inquisitive, but nervous. What if his sister had turned into a ridiculous ditz? What if she was hideously crippled?

Or worse. What if she was _killed_ in the fight the night before, and he hadn't met her?

Kel's yawns were beginning to get annoying. "She's pretty, I guess. Her eyes look just like yours, and her hair is raven black. She's bony, but not underfed." She knew he wanted her to tell him about how she was as a person, but she could barely think straight. "She wants to meet you when you're not, well, unconscious. She's kind, not easily fazed." Kel grinned. "Tolerant of insanity, remembers you a little. I didn't have time to get her full story. Anyway-" Yawn, "You'll like her."

She lay her head against the gaudy red covering on the chair. "Can I sleep now?" she pleaded.

He nodded, a small smile on his lips. "The interrogation's over." But she was already asleep.

**A/N:** Hey, people who reviewed last time, this one's for you! I've been working on it all week, so I think it should be okay. Anyway, tell me what you think! Thanks to:

Freja Lercke-Falkenborg

Ama

Anonymous

Crazy Lady Knight

SarahE7191 for your awesome reviews.


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